The Global Plankton Database: an inventory and data from the Former Soviet Union expeditions

At present time, there is a lack of knowledge on the interannual climate-related variability of zooplankton communities of the tropical Atlantic, central Mediterranean Sea, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea, due to the absence of appropriate databases. In the mid latitudes, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is the dominant mode of atmospheric fluctuations over eastern North America, the northern Atlantic Ocean and Europe. Therefore, one of the issues that need to be addressed through data synthesis is the evaluation of interannual patterns in species abundance and species diversity over these regions in regard to the NAO. The database has been used to investigate the ecological role of the NAO in interannual variations of mesozooplankton abundance and biomass along the zonal array of the NAO influence. Basic approach to the proposed research involved: (1) development of co-operation between experts and data holders in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, UK, and USA to rescue and compile the oceanographic data sets and release them on CD-ROM, (2) organization and compilation of a database based on FSU cruises to the above regions, (3) analysis of the basin-scale interannual variability of the zooplankton species abundance, biomass, and species diversity.

Pollen record from Muggesfelder See and Plussee in Germany

A basaltic tephra layer consisting of brownish-olive glass shards. and about 0.2 mm thick. was found in cores from four lakes in northwest Germany. According to pollen analysis it was deposited during the early Boreal period (corresponding to about 8700 BP). The petrographic properties. the geochemical composition and the age agree with those of the Saksunarvatn tephra. which was first found on the Faroe Islands. The position of the tephra layer in the pollen stratigraphy and in the absolute time-scale is discussed. Procedures for locating the tephra in other cores are suggested.

Model results in NetCDF format of North African vegetation-precipitation in early and mid-Holocene climate simulated by CCSM3-DGVM//

The present study analyses the sign, strength, and working mechanism of the vegetation-precipitation feedback over North Africa in middle (6 ka BP) and early Holocene (9 ka BP) simulations using the comprehensive coupled climate-vegetation model CCSM3-DGVM (Community Climate System Model version 3 and a dynamic global vegetation model). The coupled model simulates enhanced summer rainfall and a northward migration of the West African monsoon trough along with an expansion of the vegetation cover for the early and middle Holocene compared to the pre-industrial period. It is shown that dynamic vegetation enhances the orbitally triggered summer precipitation anomaly by approximately 20% in the Sahara-Sahel region (10-25° N, 20° W-30° E) in both the early and mid-Holocene experiments compared to their fixed-vegetation counterparts. The primary vegetation-rainfall feedback identified here operates through surface latent heat flux anomalies by canopy evaporation and transpiration and their effect on the mid-tropospheric African easterly jet, whereas the effects of vegetation changes on surface albedo and local water recycling play a negligible role. Even though CCSM3-DGVM simulates a positive vegetation-precipitation feedback in the North African region, this feedback is not strong enough to produce multiple equilibrium climate-ecosystem states on a regional scale.

Minerals and geochemistry abundance and occurance, as well as K-Ar determinations for DSDP Site 92-597 basalts

Preliminary studies of hydrothermally altered massive basalts formed at the fast-spreading Mendoza Rise and recovered from DSDP Holes 597B and 597C indicate the presence of three secondary mineral assemblages which formed in the following order: (1) trioctahedral chlorite and talc, (2) goethite and smectite, and (3) calcite and celadonite. The sequential precipitation of these mineral assemblages denotes high water:rock ratios and time-varying conditions of temperature (early >200°C to late <30°C) and state of oxidation (early nonoxidative to late oxidative). A decrease in the relative proportion of oxidative mineral assemblages with depth to 70 m in Site 597 basement indicates a zone of oxidative alteration that became shallower with time as the deeper, more constricted fracture systems were filled by secondary mineralization. In this report we present the first results of the K-Ar dating of celadonite formation age; celadonite formation reflects end-stage hydrothermal alteration in Site 597 basement. Three celadonite dates obtained from Site 597 samples include 13.1 ± 0.3 m.y. from 17 m basement depth (Hole 597B), 19.9 ± 0.4 m.y. from 18 m basement depth (Hole 597C), and 19.3 ± 1.6 m.y. from 60 m basement depth (Hole 597C). The age of host rock crystallization (28.6 m.y.) and the K-Ar dates of celadonite formation establish that hydrothermal alteration in the upper 70 m of Site 597 basement continued for at least 10 m.y. and possibly as long as 16 m.y. after basalt crystallization at the ridge crest. Assuming a half-spreading rate of 55 km/m.y., we calculate that hydrothermal circulation was active in shallow basement at a distance of at least 550 km off ridge crest and possibly as far as 1000 km off ridge crest.

Chloroflexus spp. and Sulfurihydrogenibium spp. in microbial mats of the Nakabusa hot spring, Japan

Microbial mats develop in a wide range of aquatic habitats, such as geothermal hot springs, hypersaline ponds, marine cold seeps or hydrothermal vents. The Nakabusa hot spring is located in the Nagano Prefecture, Japan (36.3875N, 137.75E), dense olive-green microbial mats develop in regions where the slightly alkaline, sulfidic effluent has cooled to 65°C. The microbial community of such mats was analyzed by focusing on the diversity, as well as the in situ distribution and function of bacteria involved in sulfur cycling. Microbial mat samples were kept in sterile plastic tubes (for molecular analysis) or glass bottles completely filled with hot spring water to avoid oxidation. Samples were transferred to the laboratory on ice and used for physiological experiments within 8h. Quantification of cell biovolumes was carried out based on images of mat sections hybridized with Sulfurihydrogenibium- and Chloroflexi-specific probes, and stained with DAPI. In situ hybridizations (CARD-FISH) of thin matsections showed a heterogeneous vertical distribution of Sulfurihydrogenibium and Chloroflexus. Sulfurihydrogenibium dominated near the mat surface (50% of the total mat biovolume), while Chloroflexus dominated in deeper layers (up to 64% of the total mat biovolume).

Abundance and biomass of phytoplankton in the western part of the Black Sea during Branimir Ormanov cruise BO092000 in September 2000

The samples were concentrated down to 50 cm**3 by slow decantation after storage for 20 days in a cool and dark place. The species identification was done under light microscope OLIMPUS-BS41 connected to a video-interactive image analysis system at magnification of the ocular 10X and objective - 40X. A Sedgwick-Rafter camera (1ml) was used for counting. 400 specimen were counted for each sample, while rare and large species were checked in the whole sample (Manual of phytoplankton, 2005). Species identification was mainly after Carmelo T. (1997) and Fukuyo, Y. (2000). Taxon-specific phytoplankton abundance and biomass were analysed by Moncheva S., B. Parr, 2005. Manual for Phytoplankton Sampling and Analysis in the Black Sea. The cell biovolume was determined based on morpho-metric measurement of phytoplankton units and the corresponding geometric shapes as described in detail in (Edier, 1979).

Magnetic properties of ODP Site 191-1179 sediments

As reported by Shipboard Scientific Party (2001b, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.ir.191.104.2001) in the Site 1179 chapter of the Initial Reports volume, Leg 191 Site 1179 is located on abyssal seafloor northwest of Shatsky Rise, ~1650 km east of Japan. This part of the Pacific plate was formed during the Early Cretaceous, as shown by northeast-trending M-series magnetic lineations that become younger toward the northwest (Larson and Chase, 1972, doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1972)83[3627:LMEOTW]2.0.CO;2; Sager et al., 1988, doi:10.1029/JB093iB10p11753; Nakanishi et al., 1989, doi:10.1029/1999JB900002). The site is situated on magnetic Anomaly M8 (Nakanishi et al., 1999, doi:10.1029/1999JB900002), corresponding to an age of ~129 Ma and the Hauterivian stage of the Early Cretaceous (Gradstein et al., 1994, doi:10.1029/94JB01889; 1995). The sediments recovered at Site 1179 are split into four lithostratigraphic units based on composition and color (Shipboard Scientific Party, 2001b, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.ir.191.104.2001). Unit I (0-221.52 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) is a dominantly olive-gray clay- and radiolarian-bearing diatom ooze. Unit II (221.52-246.0 mbsf) is a yellowish brown to light brown clay-rich and diatom-bearing radiolarian ooze. Unit III (246.0-283.53 mbsf) is composed of brown pelagic clay. Unit IV (283.53-377.15 mbsf) is composed of chert and some porcellanite; any softer sediments present were washed out of the core barrel by the fluid circulating during the coring process.

Datasets for the graphs of the paper (Fig. 2 to Fig. 7)

Investigating the relationship between factors (climate change, atmospheric CO2 concentrations enrichment, and vegetation structure) and hydrological processes is important for understanding and predicting the interaction between the hydrosphere and biosphere. The Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) was used to evaluate the effects of climate change, rising CO2, and vegetation structure on hydrological processes in China at the end of the 21st century. Seven simulations were implemented using the assemblage of the IPCC climate and CO2 concentration scenarios, SRES A2 and SRES B1. Analysis results suggest that (1) climate change will have increasing effects on runoff evapotranspiration (ET), transpiration (T), and transpiration ratio (transpiration/evapotranspiration, T/E) in most hydrological regions of China except in the southernmost regions; (2) elevated CO2 concentrations will have increasing effects on runoff at the national scale, but at the hydrological region scale, the physiology effects induced by elevated CO2 concentration will depend on the vegetation types, climate conditions, and geographical background information with noticeable decreasing effects shown in the arid Inland region of China; (3) leaf area index (LAI) compensation effect and stomatal closure effect are the dominant factors on runoff in the arid Inland region and southern moist hydrological regions, respectively; (4) the magnitudes of climate change (especially the changing precipitation pattern) effects on the water cycle are much larger than those of the elevated CO2 concentration effects; however, increasing CO2 concentration will be one of the most important modifiers to the water cycle; (5) the water resource condition will be improved in northern China but depressed in southernmost China under the IPCC climate change scenarios, SRES A2 and SRES B1.